CES 2016: Here are techradar’s Best of CES 2016 awards

Best of CES 2016 awards

CES 2016 is well underway and we’ve seen some awesome stuff. From human-carrying drones to modular TVs and some amazing car concepts, it’s clear that the world’s brightest creators and companies have brought their A-game once again.

So, what’s the best that CES 2016 has to offer? We bumped our heads together and fought over what we think deserves recognition. Some of us are even still lying unconscious on the casino floors. But without further ado, here are the tech products that we (and you!) think take the cake as Best of CES 2016.

Best in Show

HTC Vive Pre

HTC and Valve’s take on VR isn’t exactly new, but their latest iteration of the Vive is our big winner at CES 2016. The Vive Pre slimmed down from its original developer-ready design significantly and now, even the controllers are looking primed for launch.

People’s Choice Award

Razer Blade Stealth

Razer’s latest crack at the Ultrabook code could actually break the lock off completely. The Blade series of slim gaming laptops have always been ahead of the design curve, but the Stealth seems to properly balance those looks with performance and value.

Best Smartphone

Huawei Mate 8

Huawei is a known force in the consumer electronics space. While the Taiwanese company has enjoyed success with the Nexus 6P, its next smartphone could take Huawei even higher. The Mate 8 has a stunning screen, fast fingerprint reader and is shaking the industry with battery life that can last for days.

Best Tablet

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S

Perhaps the best compliment you can give a modern tablet is that it gives the Microsoft’s Surface a run for its money. And that’s exactly what the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S accomplishes. It isn’t a reinvention of the Galaxy tablet as you may know it, but it looks refined, has great specs and runs Windows 10.

Best Laptop

HP EliteBook Folio G1

Our vote for Best Laptop of CES 2016 has to go to the HP EliteBook Folio G1. Although the name lends itself to business use, we were floored by its looks, which mix tastes of the MacBook with the best that the Dell XPS 13 has to offer. It takes that inspiration and adds its own flavor, a 4K screen, USB-C, and an incredibly thin and lightweight chassis.

Honorable mention: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga OLED

Best TV

Samsung SUHD with Quantum Dot display

Samsung’s SUHD display with Quantum Dot is the TV at CES 2016 that we thought best encapsulated the concept of “next generation.” Why? Like its competition, this TV can do 4K Quantum Dot, all while rocking a bezel-less body. But, right now, it does it better than any other model on the horizon.

Honorable mention: LG G6 Signature OLED 4K TV

Best Digital Camera

Nikon D500

Nikon shocked the camera world with the announcement of its next flagship camera, the D500. The new DSLR is as much of a sports camera as its predecessor with a high burst rate and buffer for days plus a few extra features including better video and its articulating screen. But its coolest feature might be continuous image sharing through Bluetooth.

Honorable mention: Kodak Super 8 video camera

Best Audio Accessory

Panasonic Technics sl-1200G Hi-Fi Turntable

Hi-res audio owned last year’s CES, and it continues its reign again this year. Except instead of digital, it’s all about vinyl. Panasonic’s Technics made its triumphant return with the sl-1200G turntable and we couldn’t be more excited about the vinyl revival movement.

Best All-in-One PC

Origin Omni

We don’t think this category has ever been so exciting. While we can usually expect all-in-ones that look fantastic, we’re pleased to say that their performance has finally caught up. None displayed a better balance of design and power than Origin’s Omni all-in-one PC. It’s a no-compromise gaming PC packed inside of a (ready for this?) 34-inch curved, water-cooled display running at 3K resolution.

Most Unique Product

Parrot Disco

Leave it to Parrot to put a funky spin on the increasingly popular drone category. The Disco is very much a drone, but once it’s in the air, it autonomously flies and can shoot video from the skies. Oh, and to get it up in the air, you throw it like a paper airplane.

Best Car Tech

Chevy Bolt

Chevy’s all-electric Bolt brings an impressive 200 miles of driving to the masses with a single charge. Not just that, it’s stocked with some seriously good looks and a new infotainment system, complete with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support.

Honorable mention: Clarion FDS (full digital sound)

Best Home Theater Product

Samsung HW-K950 Soundbar

While Samsung’s isn’t the first soundbar to feature Dolby Atmos 3D sound, it stands alone amongst the competition by offering rear speaker units that eliminate the need to drill holes in your ceiling. The speakers fire sound directly at your ceiling, which then bounces off to deliver the 3D-sound experience in a clever way.

Best Gaming Device

HTC Vive Pre

To say that HTC and Valve’s Vive Pre holds a lot of promise is an understatement. While on its face, it’s just a VR headset, this iteration is beginning to prove that SteamVR could get off to an explosive start.

Best Fitness Tech

Fitbit Blaze

Fitbit makes its return to wearables, a space where the climate has adjusted dramatically since the introduction of the Apple Watch and rising popularity of Android Wear. The Blaze definitely seems suited to take the two on and stands out as Fitbit’s most sophisticated looking device yet.

Best Mobile Device Accessory

LG Tone Infinium

LG’s signature around-the-neck headset is back and better than ever. What sets these apart from its predecessor (and the competition at CES 2016) are its dual noise-cancelling microphones and the integration of Android features like Voice Memo and Find Me.

Best App/Software

Netflix

Netflix is by no means new, but it is to a lot more people around the world. The video streaming service flicked on service in a mind-boggling 130 new countries during CES alone. The fact that 2016 will be 600 hours of new, original content is just the icing on top of this dominating service.

Best Wearable Tech

Sphero Force Band

The Sphero BB-8 is controllable from your smartphone, but that’s so boring. Sphero introduced something better, the Force Band, which you can use to intuitively control the lil’ droid around your house. It’s not much, but it’s simple, cool, and c’mon, it’s the Force.

Honorable mention: Casio WSD-F10 Android Wear watch

Best In-Home Gizmo

LG Signature Fridge

You might think that a smart refrigerator is totally unnecessary, but that means you haven’t seen LG’s new Signature Fridge. For one, it’s gorgeous. But it also has some honest-to-goodness helpful features, like being able to gently knock on the door to see what’s inside. You can also hold your foot near the bottom to have the door kick open automatically, perfect for when your hands are full of groceries.